Holder and closure for milk carton



Jan. 6, 1970 M. coo sns'rsm HOLDER AND CLOSURE FOR MILK CARTON 2Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 11, 1968 INVENTOR MITCHELL COOPERSTEIN FIG- 3A TOR NEYS Jan. 6, 1970 M. COOPERST EIN HOLDER AND CLOSURE FOR MILKCARTON 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 11-, 1968 FIG. 6

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INVENTOR MITC HELL COOPERSTEIN BY M, W O a ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent 3,488,078 HOLDER AND CLOSURE FOR MILK CARTON MitchellCooperstein, 320 Blue Hill Parkway, Milton, Mass. 02187 Filed Mar. 11,1968, Ser. No. 712,252 Int. Cl. A47j 45/00 US. Cl. 294-31.2 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A holder for a customary rectangular milkcarton consists of a square platform for the bottom of a carton, asquare band to fit around a carton near the top of the rectangularportion, a handle member attached at its upper end to the band and atits lower end to a side of the platform, and a vertical member attachedto the band and platform at the side opposite to the handle. Hinged tothe upper end of the vertical member is a closure comprising an invertedchannel member arranged to fit over the forward portion of the top ridgeof the carton which opens to form a pouring spout and to swing forwardand downward to be out of the way when the spout is to be opened.

This invention relates to a holder for the usual cardboard milk cartonwhich has a rectangular body and a gable top terminating in anupstanding ridge half of which is separable to unfold for the formationof a pouring spout. When the pouring has been done, the spout is usuallyfolded into the original closed position. Owing to the low resilience ofthe material of the carton, the spout does not stay completely closed byitself so that unless the forward half of the top ridge, or a portionthereof, is clamped, air will have access to the interior of the carton,together with whatever dust and bacteria the air may be carrying. Tokeep the spout closed the holder carries a clamp in the form of aninverted member adapted to fit on the forward portion of the top ridgeof the carton to keep the spout tightly closed and to be swung forwardand downward out of the way when the spout is to be opened.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be hadto the following description thereof, and to the drawing, of whichFIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a holder and closure embodying theinvention, with a milk carton therein;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the same;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation showing the closure element in its inactiveposition;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, on theline 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, on theline 5-5 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of a molded member constituting most of theholder;

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation of the same;

FIGURE 8 is a section, on a larger scale, taken on the line 88 of FIGURE6;

FIGURE 9 is a side view of the other member forming the holder; and

FIGURE 10 is a plan view of the same.

In FIGURES l, 2 and 3 a milk carton 20 is shown in a holder whichcomprises a square carton platform 22 on which the carton rests, a strap24 which encircles the carton at a considerable distance above theplatform 22, a handle 26 which connects the platform and the belt at therear of the carton and a vertical member 28 which connects the platformand the belt at the front of the carton. As is customary with suchcartons, the body of 3,488,078 Patented Jan. 6, 1970 it is rectangularwith a square cross-section. The top is a gable 30 the ends of which arefolded in to make a top ridge 32. When milk is desired from such acarton, it is opened by pulling apart the forward half of the ridge 32.The fold within this end of the carton top is then reversed forwardly soas to form a spout by which milk can readily be poured from within thecarton. The outwardly folded portion of the spout is then reversedinward and the two halves of the forward portion of the ridge 32 arebrought together to close the carton again. Since the cardboard of whichthe carton is made is not entirely resilient, it does not form a tightclosure when folded back to its original shape. As a tight closure isdesirable for the prevention of access by bacteria, dust and the like tothe interior of the carton, a device is attached to the holder fortightly closing the carton when the spout elements have been folded backto place. This consists of an inverted channel 34 which is adapted tofit snugly over a portion of the front half of the ridge 32 so as topinch together the parts of this front half which have been separated toform a spout and have been returned to their normal closed position. Tomake sure that the member 34 will always be at hand for use whendesired, it is made integral with the vertical member 28, beingconnected thereto by a thin hinge member 36 so that it can be readilyswung outward and downward when it is desired to open the carton for thedischarge of milk therefrom.

The holder can be molded in a single piece, or as illustrated in FIGURES6 to 10, can be made of two pieces which are assembled after beingmolded. While a suitable metal or synthetic resin can be employed as amaterial for this holder, a synthetic resin such as polypropylene ispreferred. This material is light and strong and can be readily moldedin a suitable die. As indicated in FIG- URES 6 and 7, the principalportion of the holder consists of the platform 22 which is square inshape and which has a peripheral flange 40 and an upstanding ridge 42 tokeep the bottom of the carton out of direct contact with the floor ofthe platform 22, the belt 24, and the handle 26 which connects theplatform 22 and the belt 24. The handle 26 is attached at one end to theflange 40 of the platform by a very thin connection 44 which is verypliant so that the handle can be easily bent up to the angles shown inFIGURES 2 and 3. At the upper end of the handle 26 it is attached by avery thin connection 46 to a side of the belt 24. On the rear side ofthe platform 22 a pair of hooks 48 are provided, the hooks being spacedapart a distance equal to the width of the handle 26 so that when thehandle is bent up to a position of approximate perpendicularity to theplane of the floor, the edges of the handle snap in between the hooksand the handle is thus held in place. Similar hooks 50 are provided onthe rear side of the belt 24 so that the upper end of the handle cansnap in between these hooks so as to hold the belt 24 approximatelyparallel to the platform 22.

The vertical member 28 for the front of the holder is molded in onepiece, as indicated in FIGURES 9 and 10, this member consisting of anelongated strip connected by a very thin element 36 which acts as ahinge to the clamping member 34 which is narrower than the strip 28. Twoshort parallel elements 52 are provided on the outer face of a loop 53on the front of the belt 24, these elements being spaced apart by adistance slightly less than the width of the channel member 34, asindicated in FIGURE 10. Thus when the channel member is swung out anddown, it can be wedged between the elements 52 to hold it releasably outof the way while milk is being poured from the carton.

Near the ends of the strip 28 are apertures 54 which are adapted to hookover lugs 56 within the loop 53 and a loop 58 on the front of the flange40, this loop being 3, adapted to be fitted by the lower end of thestrip 28 which is thrust into it. When the holder is being assembled thestrip 28 is pushed past the lugs 56 in the loops 53 and 58 until thelugs enter the holes 54, thus anchoring the strip 28 in place.

I claim: 1. A combined holder and closure member for a milk carton whichincludes a top ridge, said holder comprising a frame shaped to be fittedby a carton, a handle at the rear of said frame, and a clamping elementhinged to the front of said frame and movable from a clamping positionupon the forward portion of a carton top ridge forward and downward toan inactive'position clear of the top of the carton. I

2. A holder and closure member as claimed in claim 1, said closuremembercoinprising when in active position an inverted channel fittingsnugly on the forward portion of the top ridge of a carton in saidholder.

3. A holder and closure member as claimed in claim 1,

said frame including a square platform with an upstand- 2O 4 ing flangea belt spaced above said platform and a vertical supporting elementfastened at its lower end to the front of said platform and at a pointhigher up to the front of said belt, said closure member being hinged tothe upper end of said vertical element.

4. A holder and closure member as claimed in claim 3, said handle beingattached at its lower end to the rear of said platform and at its vupperend to the rear of said belt.

5 A holder and closure member as claimed in claim 3, and, means on vsaid vertical elernent engageable by said closure member to hold saidclosure member releasably in its inactive position.

7 R eferen'c es Cited UNITEDISTATES PATENTS 1,177,562 3/1916 Amato etal. 294-33 X EVQN c. BLUNK, Primary Examiner DOUGLAS W TTS; AssistantExaminer

